Playing with fire
by RoseScor90
Summary: Written for the Eurovision 2010 challenge! When the unexpected happens, will Rose go by her guts and run away or will she hear her heart and stay?


Disclaimer: Not JK…

Rose rushed past the many corridors of Hogwarts, towards the destination she knew would ease her problems.

She kept cursing under her breath, though who she was so vehemently offending, one couldn't discern.

She dumped her load of books on one of the tables in the library, and sat down on the chair with a sigh.

Now that she had run herself out of steam, she considered herself level headed enough to think back.

As she thought about it, she discovered, to her dismay and irritation, that, this time, it hadn't been his fault.

She had been the one who had acted immature about the situation.

_Half an hour ago:_

"Hey Rose!" Scorpius had greeted her casually as he sat beside her on the couch.

"Shouldn't you be doing your own home work?" she had asked without looking up from her essay.

"Don't tell any one but I completed that one a few days ago" he whispered in her ear, making her shiver involuntarily.

"Are the windows open?"

"No. Why? Are you cold?" he asked even as he kindled the fire.

"You could have just cast a spell"

"Some things are better done the muggle way" he declared as he sat back on the couch, sprawling out on it comfortably.

She looked up and smiled at him, you never knew when Scorpius would do such things. One minute he'd be complaining that magic was going to drain out if we didn't use it often and the next, he'd be talking about Muggle rights. One minute, he'd be somber and the next, he'd be trying to cheer her up, making the stupidest of jokes.

She tried going back to her essay, but it was whisked away from her, and Scorpius held it just out of her reach.

"Hey! Give that back! I've been working for hours on it!"

"Exactly! You have been working too long on this! You need to relax, or you'll burst your brain and I'd have to be stuck with a brainless friend and Al would never forgive me"

"For letting my brain 'burst'?"

"No. For not waiting until he could come see the show!"

A few more minutes of struggle later she gave up, sitting back on the couch.

"Now that's a good girl. How about a game of Quidditch?"

"I'm not coming back!"

"Just a friendly one?"

"No way!"

"Oh, come on!"

"There's no way I'm giving up this time" she turned away from him, trying to avoid looking at him. She knew that he'd now be sporting a perfect puppy dog expression, which, funny as it was, made him only handsomer.

And she'd have to give in if she faced it.

"Why won't you look at me?"

"I'm not falling for your tricks this time"

"Come on! You like Quidditch!"

"Yes, I like the sport. Playing it, though, is another thing entirely"

"You played for the past six years!"

"I had a perfectly justified reason for quitting"

"Doesn't mean you can't play once in a while!"

"The answer's no and you'd better accept it"

"I'm sorry, but I promised your cousin that I'd convince you to come"

"What…hey!" she moved away just in time before he could grab her.

A hunt ensued, with Scorpius trying to get a hold of her and rose avoiding it.

In a last attempt, Scorpius sprung out, managing to catch her, and they rolled on the floor, laughing all the while.

She should have known this proximity would do her no good!

The incessant blushing and shivering had been proof enough of what she had gotten her self into, without having tangible evidence.

She shouldn't have let him catch her.

She should never have looked into his blue grey eyes and thought them captivating.

She should never have leaned in.

She should never have kissed him.

Most of all, she shouldn't have felt any thing out of it except, may be embarrassment.

They would have been better without this added to the already confused mess that was her brain.

But fate was out to make the unwanted happen.

And this must have been at the very top of its list.

Because, they were like fire and ice. They existed separately, and for a reason.

Bringing the two together would result in one getting destroyed.

And she knew she'd have more to lose in this one.

Scorpius was quite famous for his play boy ways and for being non-committed to any of his girl friends.

Rose, on the other hand, was one of the very few people who could truly say that they believed in love.

But, she should have expected this.

They had had too much pent up emotions between them for this to blow over smoothly.

A kiss wasn't worth much in the eyes of outsiders but, to her, it had been the discovery of the one thing she had been avoiding.

First kisses were supposed to make you feel confident that the other was the one, not make you unsure and unsteady of the emotion coursing through you.

Neither of them had regretted it. She knew he knew and he knew she knew.

They had nothing to hide from each other any longer.

It was either stay and acknowledge her emotions or run and hide until she couldn't avoid it any longer.

And she had never been the bravest of Gryffindors.

Rose now laid her head atop the pile of books, wondering what was to become of their relationship now.

She felt him enter the library before she heard him or saw him.

Even then, she did not look up, hoping that he'd think her asleep.

"Rose, I know you're awake, and avoiding me"

"Good that you got the hint. Now act on it" was her muffled reply.

"Rose, you can't avoid me forever"

"Try me"

"May be you could, but, I'm not stupid enough to give up on some thing that finally feels right, that I know is right"

"I'm not one to act on impulses, Scorpius. Leave me alone"

"No. You'd only convince your self that it was a mistake"

"It was"

"Look at me and say it, Rose. Look at me damn it! At least have the courtesy of looking me in the eye while you tell me it was wrong!"

Madame Pince was too far to hear him, or they'd have been promptly thrown out of the library.

"Alright, Rose. If you don't even consider me worthy of rejecting in person, I must have been wrong about all this. Sorry if I have troubled you. I should be leaving now"

Rose lifted her head up, looking at his dejected stance as he began walking away.

She had thought she'd feel better when he left. That she'd feel free. That she'd be able to forget that incident.

Out of sight, out of mind, right?

Dead wrong.

Try as she might, all she could see in the page of book was his retreating form, crestfallen and without any of the usual liveliness he naturally possessed.

She felt chained, as if some one had tied her to the table and had prevented her from going to him.

In frustration, she closed her book, which now seemed useless to distract her.

No use trying to avoid it any longer. Her heart was set on not leaving her alone till she explored her actions.

She admitted to her self that he had shaken her.

So many unexpected things at once was not some thing she dealt with so well.

If the kiss had been bland, she could have possibly forgotten about it.

If it hadn't affected her as it had.

Fire works and electricity seemed too insipid and tame to be used to describe some thing that had changed her so.

If she had been allowed to ponder a bit more on the subject, she could have had a better disposition while dealing with Scorpius.

And that was a lie.

No matter that she had not had time. Even a century couldn't have made her ready to face him.

But, he had sought her out. As it was always the case.

He was always the one who took the effort each time.

When they were arch nemeses, it had been him pranking her and her, retaliating.

When they had become friends, he had suggested the truce and she had grudgingly accepted.

And even now,…

May be she had been too laid back.

May be she must have done some thing about this much earlier.

Never mind now.

She'd take things in her hands now.

Who was he to decide that they should not ignore it?

She could very well face her feelings her self.

She didn't need a Malfoy to tell her that.

Weasleys did what they wanted, not what others told them to.

These were the thoughts running through her head as she rushed through the corridors once again.

This time, in the opposite direction, though.

Her books and bag forgotten, she raced towards the common room, and was disappointed to not find him there.

Catching hold of a frightened first year, she asked, "Did you see Scorpius Malfoy come here?"

"No, but…"

"But what? Fast!"

"He was leaving in his Quidditch robes when…"

She was gone before he could complete the sentence.

As she neared the Quidditch pitch, she saw that a mock Quidditch match was going on between the Gryffindors.

Lily spotted her and called her over.

Not able to avoid her, she mounted a spare broom, and took the side opposite Scorpius, as the Keeper, which had been her original position on the team.

If Scorpius had been surprised, he didn't show it.

As he raced towards her for scoring the first goal, she got ready, and easily caught the quaffle before it could even come within a meter of the hoops.

She threw back the quaffle in Lily's direction, making sure that it hit Scorpius too.

The game continued and as time wore on, it was clear that the match had turned into a one on one between Rose and Scorpius.

It had been an hour since the snitch had been caught and the others could so nothing but play along as the two competed against each other.

At last, Al stepped in between the two and shouted, "What's the matter with you two? This has gone too far! Both of you would fall off your brooms if you play any longer! Stop it!"

The two, though, were looking at each other, seemingly ignorant of the poor soul shouting in between them.

They landed at the same time, and Rose began to leave the pitch right away, not knowing what to do.

She knew he'd come after her, he always did.

He walked silently beside her, and she knew this was her one chance of making this work.

"I thought…"

"Nothing unusual, then" his voice was back to the cheerful tone, as if nothing had ever happened.

"And, I have come to a decision"

"Would I like to know?"

"You should. It concerns you, after all"

"Mhm…Let's hear it then"

"I…That is…You…"

"Um…pardon me but, I do not understand this language?"

"Oh, quit making fun of me! I'm trying to say some thing important here!"

"Is there any chance of me getting to know what it is within this decade?"

They had now reached the doors of the castle but, Rose turned away from it and began walking towards the Black Lake.

Scorpius followed, listening intently to what she spoke.

"You were the first to prank me. What I mean is that, in every other case, it would have been some one getting off on the wrong foot with me and me pranking them but, you had no reason to cause me such trouble"

"May be not, but it wouldn't have been any fun without having you to prank"

"I have to accept that. I wouldn't have had half the amount of detentions either, if it hadn't been for you and I'm yet to take revenge on you for that"

"If that's why you…"

"No! I'm not that dim-witted! It just struck me that where I would always be the one in control with any thing else, when it came to you…"

"I didn't want to control you or any thing"

"But you did, as unintentional as it was. And so, I have decided that, this time over, I'd make the decision"

"About what?" he was openly smiling now, all his previous serious expression dissolving.

"What to do about this" she said, indicating between them.

"Have you made it yet?"

"No. I'm going to wait until I'm sure of it. After all, it's you that's reckless and hasty. I'm the sensible and orderly one"

"And? What am I to do until then?" he asked, as he draped his hands around her waist.

"Whatever you please?" her heart was fluttering too much for her to analyze what she was saying.

"Really?" he asked as he took a step towards her, and she took a step back, leaning against the tree behind her.

"Any thing? That was a very dangerous statement to make, especially to a 'reckless and hasty' person" he said right before he kissed her again.

_If we get together now_

_We'll burn this place down  
You and me can't you see  
We're playing with fire_

_Could it be just a dream  
Are you running away?  
If we get together now  
We'll burn this place down_

When they broke apart, he grazed his hand along her cheek; as if afraid she'd disappear.

She looked as his initial expression of anxiety turned into confusion to comprehension to joy.

"You aren't going to run away again, are you?"

So that's why he had looked so worried. Rose couldn't help but laugh at this.

"No, but I'd always claim that you were the one who cornered me"

"Then I'd just have to make it true wouldn't I?"

_You and me can't you see  
we're playing with fire  
Tell me now do you feel  
this burning desire_

A/n: Written for the Eurovision challenge!

If it was too long and boring, sorry!

Review!_  
_


End file.
